Carrying body for rigid airships



Dec 24, 1929. E. RUESS ,8 9

CARRYING BODY FOR RIGID AIRSHIPS Filed Oct. 2, 1928 I i d Fi .2 b g e b e Fig.3

/ Ziuenzar' Ens! Facess a! v I UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE ERNST RUESS, OF MUNICH, GERMANY CARRYING BODY FOE RIGID AIRSHIPS Application filed October 2, 1928, Serial No. 309,724, and in Germany June 14, 1926.

The carrying bodies for rigid airships have hitherto consisted exclusively of a skeleton of aluminium or wood, stayed in a suitable manner and having a multi-cornered cross 5 section.

It has been found that these carrying bodies for airships cause extraordinarily high expenses at the erection of the airship, as this erection requires much time and a great num- 10 ber of workmen. The skeletons of aluminium or wood do not possess the necessary resistance, which cannot be obtained even by the cleverest possible stay work. This inconvenience is specially disagreeable at hard landings or when the airship is landing with a strong shock, whereby the hull of the airship is generally distorted or some of the members of the skeleton are bent inward and the ships hull is considerably damaged. It even happens sometimes that the hull is wrecked completely.

The commonly used airship bodies possess further very little elasticity, this being spe cially unfavourable in whirlwinds.

On the commonly used airship bodies the driving engines can be mounted only in the lower portion of the body, wheret'roin results an unfavourable stress on the body of the airship, a high engine etficiency being further required as the tractive effect does not act parallel to the axis of the airship.

The hitherto used airship bodies are further unsuitable for the arrangement of supporting planes designed to make the airship capable to operate like an aeroplane, i. e. to rapidly ascend or descend. The commonly used airship bodies do not withstand the strong stresses of the supporting planes so that it has not yet been possible to build a 40 combined airship-aeroplane This invention has for its object to create an airship body which avoids all the inconveniences mentioned above by being made of fell-oe-like rims which may be constructed as single felloe or as double felloe and which are connected to each other in a suitable manner. An airship body constructed 1n accordance withthe invention is shown, by way of eX- ample, in the accompanying drawing in Fig. 1 in longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 shows a portion of the'airship body in longitudinal section.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale.

The carrying body is of torpedo-shape; it might however be of any cylindrical or other shape. The skeleton of the carrying body is composed of felloe-like hoops, rings or rims a, b, i. e., of a particular channeled (U) cross-section and of suitable diameter, spaced, for instance, 5 meters apartand connected with each other in a suitable manner. The how 0 and the stern (Z of the carrying body may consist of hoods placed on the body. These felloe-like rims shown on the drawing are double felloes, each element consisting of an inner felloe a and of an outer felloe b. The two felloes are connected with each other by stays and by longitudinal members.

Fig. 2 shows the longitudinal staying by means of girder members 0 fixed on inner re taining rings 7 of the double felloes a, b.

Fig. 3 shows two differentstayings g and h in the annular space of the double felloe. The inner felloes a might be further stayed spoke-like.

The tree space between two adjacent or several adjacent double felloes serves for accommodating the gas cells.

The outer skin is fixed on the outer felloes Z), eventually with utilization of the longitudinal members 6. Instead of the double felloes single felloes might be used as mentioned. I p

The new carrying body increases the re sistance of'the airship, enables the uniform distribution of the driving engines over the entire circumference of the airship, whereby prejudicial tensile stresses are avoided, and permits further of arranging supporting planes on the airship, as the carrying body is sufficiently strong to intercept the great stresses.

The staying and connecting of the felloes a, 6 only in the annular space between the same presents further the advantage that almost the complete hollow space of the carrying body may be utilized for accommodating gas cells.

I claim 1. A frame for rigid airships embodying connected outer and inner circular frame members of channeled cross-sec-tionarranged in pairs, the frame members of each pair being concentrically disposed and one member of each pair having the open side of its channel facing outwardly and theother member of each pair having the open side of its channel facingv inwardly;

2. A frame for rigid airships embodying connected circular frame members of crosssectionally channeled form and arranged in pairs, the members of each pair being con centrically disposed and having their closed sides facing each other.

3. Aframe for rigid airships embodying connected circular frame members of crosssectionally channeled form and arranged in pairs, the members of each pair being concentrically disposed and having their closed sides facing each other, transverse bracing means between and connecting the closed sides of each pair of frame members, and longitudinal bracing means between the respective pairs of frame members and connecting the transverse bracing means of adjacent frame members.

4. A frame for rigid airships embodying connected circular frame members of crosssectionally channeled form and arranged in pairs, the members of each pair being concentrically disposed and having their closed sidesfacing each other, retaining rings between the closed sides of each pair of frame members, longitudinal braces connecting adjacent pairs of frame members andfitted in said retaining rings, and truss braces connecting frame members and retaining rings ofeach pair of frame members and also connecting the aforesaid partsof adjacent pairs of frame members together.

57;. Aframe for an. airship of rigid type embodying inner and outer sets of circular frame members of. channeled cross-section and arrangedin pairs, the frame members of eachpair being, concentrically disposed'and having the closedsides ofstheirchannels'fac ing -each other and spaced apart,- retaining rings in the spaces between the closedlsides of; the frame members, inner andv-outeltlongitu'dinal. stays respectively Lmitinginner and =outer-frjame members, of adjacent pairs of frameomembers; and stays in the; spaces betweemand connecting the frame; members oft'he pair, of frame membersandextending 

